Quinn Calls for the Protection of Specialized High School Admission Tests

QUINN CALLS FOR THE PROTECTION OF

SPECIALIZED HIGH SCHOOL ADMISSIONS TESTS

Rallies in Front of Stuyvesant High School With Parents, Students and Alumni Against de Blasio’s Radical Political Agenda

Queens, NY--March 10th...Queens Borough President candidate Jim Quinn today joined parents, students and Stuyvesant High School alumni to call for the protection of specialized high school admission tests.

Quinn, who grew up in the Ravenswood Housing Projects and is a graduate of a specialized high school, Brooklyn Technical High School, called on the de Blasio Administration to stop their war on specialized high schools that harms children. Parents, particularly in the Asian-American community are outraged by de Blasio’s efforts to weaken entrance exams in the name of diversity. Quinn called the goal of getting more minority children into specialized high schools laudable but criticized de Blasio’s method as absolutely the wrong way to do it.

“What we have in the City of New York is a woefully under-performing public school system that traps children in failing schools,” said Mr. Quinn. “Only a quarter of our school children are graduating college-ready, but instead of fixing the problems that plague the system, de Blasio chooses to wage a political war on charter and specialized high schools that have been hugely successful in giving countless minority, low-income students exceptional educations. We should be focusing on how we can improve public education at earlier levels and grow our specialized high school capacity so more kids have this opportunity.”

Quinn concluded, “As Borough President, I will use my position to be a loud voice for the residents of Queens. With our children’s futures at stake, we need leaders who will put students first and fight back against this mayor’s radical political agenda.”